Afraid of the Game
by AriadnesNation
Summary: "I had always liked Dylan. I never admitted it to myself. But now was not the time for a crush. I had to win for my team. And survive for myself, and my family." "My name is Shea Hall..."
1. Chapter 1

My name is Shea Hall. And I was scared.

Every year our village hosts a game. We get taken to the Server and we have play Capture the Flag. Every year we have one more player. This year is our seventy-ninth year. Seventy-nine players, have to leave their home, play a game, and risk their lives doing it.

The participants are armed with a bow and arrow, a knife, an axe, a pickaxe and a shovel. There are two sides, each with its own temple. Surrounded by a thin forest with a small battlefield on each side. In between each side is a lake, at least one thousand blocks deep with a small bridge.

All people who don't participate have to sit at home and watch on their small coal TVs. Sometimes I like watching. You watch the strategies and where the flag is hidden in the temple. One time they actually made another temple where they hid the flag.

Today is the day the citizens are chosen. Well, the citizens who volunteer. I've never been. In order to sign up, you have to put your name on a card then put it in the cauldron at the Village Hall. You have one week to put your name in, or take it out if you change your mind. But, at midnight on the seventh day, names in are in, and names out, our out. Then, the day before the game, the Mayor goes over the names, and then they are taken to the Server.

I go back to reality when I'm slammed into the wall again. Jason laughs and walks away. I slide down the wall until I'm sitting. I have a headache. Jason has always been slamming me into walls, kicking me, hitting me, and no one does anything about it. After a while I get up and go home. We're at least supposed to put on some nice armor at the Recap Ceremony. I put on a shiny iron chestplate. My parents and brother are already downstairs. My parents never made a huge deal about Capture the Flag after my dad went. The only rule about it was that they didn't want us to sign up. That wasn't a problem for Grayson and me. My brother and I never wanted to sign up in the first place.

"You know anyone who signed up?" My mother asks me.

"Not that I know of." I answer.

"I think Mandy did." Grayson says.

Mandy was another girl in my brother's year at school. My parents and Grayson finish their conversation and then we walk to the Village Hall. Inside, I sit in one of the many rows of plush, velvet chairs in front of the large, spruce stage. The Mayor walks onto the stage and stands at the microphone next to the glass block with the nametags in them. With just a lift of his arms, he quiets the auditorium.

"Welcome! Welcome everyone! Another year of our annual Capture the Flag!" He says.

The auditorium applauds.

"Thank you, thank you everyone. Now as we all know, we are here today to call the names of the participants of the game. And, as also all know, all names that are in cannot be taken out and the names weren't put in, can't be until next year of course."

He walks over to the block with his mic. Other the next few minutes, he calls the names of the players and I choke when I hear the next name. On the card is written in an untidy scrawl, which could only belong to Jacob.

"Last but not least, Shea Hall." He announces.

My mother gasps and looks at me. Through her eyes I see her asking why I didn't tell her, and if I was suicidal. I give her a look that says no and that I didn't know I signed up. Before she can ask why, I'm lifted by my arms by a security guard and taken onstage with the others. I scream.

"No! I didn't sign up!" They thrust me back and I thrash, and kick my legs and flail my arms.

"I'm sorry, but your name is on the name tag, and you had your chance to take it out. So you're out of luck." The Mayor says to me.

I kick more.

"NO! It's a mistake! Jacob wrote my name on the nametag and put it in! I didn't sign up!" I exclaim.

My face feels hot with tears and by now the auditorium is empty.

"I'm sorry, I can't control it, that's your own fault." He replies.

"NO! NO! NO! Nooooo!" The guards thrust me out the doors and the stage is gone.


	2. Chapter 3

When we get to the Server, there's a large hub. There were small portals to the different games and modes to play. The guard walks all seventy-nine people to the portal.

"We're supposed to walk through a purple mist?" The girl in front of me asks.

"Yes, now walk." The guard replies.

She hesitates a minute and goes through the portal. When it's my turn I hesitate a little too. Seriously? Mist? I never left home before, and in order to get here, we just took a cart. That didn't make sense but _mist_? Is this a joke?

"Go. Now." He says to me.

"It's mist. We wont get anywhere." I say stubbornly.

"Go. _Now_." He says again.

I'm hesitant another moment, and then I hold my breath and walk through the portal. For a moment, I'm nowhere and then I'm in a glass dome. With a door, a blue and red checkerboard wall surrounded the door and the wall was covered with more glass. Next to it, another guard waits. The rest of the other participants are standing in a line, being pushed into the glass and disappearing. When it's my turn all he says to me is,

"When you spawn you'll see a chest. Open it and it will have your gear. You're on team blue." He says.

"Bu-" I can't finish my sentence because he pushes me through the glass.

I respawn in one of what must be the temples of the Capture the Flag arena. The temple is made of stone bricks as always. I've seen it on TV, but the inside I haven't. It's beautiful. The floor is made of lapis lazuli and the inside is light blue wool with a block of glowstone in the middle. But on each side is a hole. Since there were seventy-nine people, the teams aren't even. Red has forty. We have thirty-nine. The thirty-nine other people are looking around like me while we wait for what to do.

"Hey a sign." A boy says.

And there is a sign.

" Hear the gong. Jump down the hole. Then into the water. You'll see a way out and fight to the flag."

That was are only advice. Then the gong goes off. The game has begun. A few brave souls go right down the hole. Some of the other people sit down and scoot off. I take a breath and jump down. Ouch, that took a chunk of my health. Three hearts. Luckily, my hunger is full, so I'll be able to regenerate soon enough. The only problem is that we have to make food, and we get one life of course.

The next jump is much farther, but there was a block high of water. I jump straight down easily and land in the water with a splash. I climb up a block of stairs and there's another temple that holds the flag next to the spawning temple. Dotted on our side are little blue wool tents and an unlit campfire. There's an arch built into the thin forest. Another person, a guy, he looks older than the rest of the team. He hands us each a backpack.

I had seen this part on TV. They have to wear special skins to represent their team and they have to get their tools.

I go up to him.

"Here. This has your tools and new skin." He says emotionless.

"Thanks." I reply walking away with the blue backpack.

I get to keep the base of my skin; I just get an outfit and a blue armband. I wear dark brown pants and a moss green shirt with black combat boots. The blue armband really goes well with the contrast of the shirt. I tuck my dark hair back with another blue band and open my backpack, although I already know what is inside it.

Inside, is a stone sword to act as a knife, an iron pickaxe and an iron axe.

I decide my main weapon with be the axe so I put it upside down in my bag, the handle sticking out so I can grab it quickly.

I decide to go and see where the flag is in the temple. There's a big set of stairs to get in. The flag is on a three by three chunk of obsidian three stories up. The first story has stairs, and the second and third has ladders. But the chunk of obsidian is in the middle so you have to build your way across and not get caught.

I see a group of three blue team guys breaking down the ladders. Which seems smart but isn't. In order for your team to win, you have to get the flag and go to where your flag is at the obsidian.

You also win if you kill the rest of the other team.

I sigh. At least I wasn't planning on winning for my team anyway.


	3. Chapter 4

Warning! This chapter has bad language and is gory!

I spend the rest of the day on our side. A lot of people do. Today is really only a preparation and no Red Teamers came to our side. There weren't any deaths today.

In my backpack I also have a sleeping bag so I roll it out in one of the tents with two other guys. The guy from earlier isn't technically playing, so he gets his own special tent and no one is allowed to kill him.

We also had some flint so we could light our campfire and I guess burn each other to death it ever came to that.

We have some beef and potatoes and we put it over the fire to cook. The steaks weren't as good as at home, but I guess I could deal with it until the game ended. I wasn't planning on trying to capture the flag or come in contact with anyone other than on my team, so I guess it was safe to say I would be able to make it out. Good thing Jacob wasn't playing.

After our dinner the my teammates talk a little; mostly about their homes and their families and then we go to bed. The guys I'm sharing my tent with must be friends because they've been talking a lot. I didn't mind. I was too tired so I fall asleep easily.

I may sleep deeply but I can wake up when I want to. Especially when I hear unfamiliar voices.

"No you kill her." I hear a boy say. He sounds older.

Another boy laughs.

"No, you" A girl says.

"Fine." He whines.

Then there's a blood-curdling scream and I hear footsteps running away and laughing. I jolt up. The other guys are just waking up.

I scramble out of the tent and see the possibly the most grotesque, gory scene I ever have, and hopefully my last.

The former girl in front of me has been mutated beyond recognition. Her stomach has been cut open, with her guts spilling out and the charred campfire rocks replacing them. Her neck has slit, and her vocal chords cut. Her face. Oh, her face. It has little cuts covering almost every inch of it, and her eyes have cut, one socket hanging out. Her nose was completely cut off and in her hand. Her lips were split and her tongue half hanging out, with a small slit gushing blood everywhere. Her body was cut in random spots and there is a high pool of blood, seeping into the tents surrounding her body.

"LUCY!" I hear from the girl next to me.

She gets down on her knees and I see her tears mix with Lucy's blood. She's picking up handfuls of her blood and desperately trying to put it back down her throat. Once she realizes its hopeless, she just hugs Lucy's lifeless body calling her name. Her body is smeared with blood like her sister's.

"Who killed my sister!?" She exclaims.

She turns to random people, asking if they knew. A boy gets down on his knees with her.

"Addie. Addie, she's gone. It's better. She was in so much pain." He coaxes.

She calms down a little. She put down Lucy's body and is desperately hugging the boy but she's still crying.

"It's not fair. It's not fair." She cries quietly to him.

"I know. It's not fair. But they'll take her. She'll be okay. They'll put her back together." He says.

The crowd has moved on. The man from yesterday, the one handing out the backpacks comes over.

"What the hell is going o-" He stops abruptly.

Addie has stopped blubbering so the boy gets up. I watch from my tent. It's sunrise now.

"Dylan. It's Lucy Paxton. The Red Teamers came last night." He says.

"Shit, okay, um, Josh get Addie away from here the staff will get her body." He says.

Something flutters in me as I watch his warm brown eyes go back and forth from Dylan to Addie to the mutated body.

_No. I don't have time for a crush! _I think to myself. Addie, Dylan, and Josh leave and go to Dylan's tent. In a second, Lucy's body is gone and all that's left that proves she was there is the ever-growing pool of blood.


	4. Chapter 5

The real game begins today. I see some Red Teamers trying to cross the border and then I see the rest of the Blue Team slashing at them, shooting, even chucking rocks at them.

And right, of course, their bodies are left at the border. Their soulless eyes staring at me un-blinking.

I shudder and move on.

I decide to go through the arch to the border. Maybe check out the bridge.

I have an idea.

I get a little block dirt and put at the fence of the bridge. I climb up, the dirt making the height equivalent to the height of the fence and slowly climb across when no one is looking. I bend down to get lower and try to smoothly and quickly it across the bridge.

I'm almost across when I feel a tug on the collar of my shirt. I choke.

The boy behind me is wearing a smug smile.

"Well, well, well. What do we have hear?" He says almost mockingly.

I recognize that voice. He killed Lucy last night. It's dark now and most people are back on their sides. Just a few people guarding the inside behind the forest.

"I don't know, Mark. What do we have here?" Asks the girl from last night.

I want to speak but I'm too petrified. The boy I'm guessing, is at their side.

"Looks like a shrimp, Maddie. What do think?" He asks, wearing the same smile as them both.

I am a shrimp. I was small. And short.

"I don't know Max. She looks like a six year old. I wonder how she got in the game." Maddie says.

Mark lifts me off the bridge, still holding me. Maddie and Max are also surrounding me. Running is out. All that's left is manipulate them to let me go, but I don't have high hopes, so I might be stuck with plan C; shut up and accept death.

_I'm such an idiot! Why did I want to make it across in the first place? Like I was supposed to make it across! _I ask myself.

"I didn't sign up. Jacob, signed me up." I say weakly.

And then it hits me. If I can pretend I'm small and frail, maybe I can guilt them into letting me go. But that small window of hope doesn't last long. Of course they have no mercy on me. They carved a little girl to death who was two years younger than me.

Time for plan C.

"Let's go." Mark says.

They drag me by the collar to their side. I try plan B a little more. By making weak choking sounds and whining. I bet this wont help anything though, so I stop after a while.

That just made them laugh.

"Someone trying to be 'strong'" Mark says mockingly.

They crack up.

When we get across he takes me to the corner. They slam my head into the wall. Mark gets his knife.

"Hmmm. How to start?" He says playing with his knife.

He puts it against my temple. He slashes. I let out a scream. I feel my skin prickle as my blood slowly trickles down the side of my head.

"More. I bet that didn't hurt enough." Maddie says.

He puts the knife to my ribs and presses. I let out a low moaning sound. They laugh.

It goes on like that until I have cuts on my chest, ribs, stomach, cheeks, and legs. Not deep cuts. I'm not bleeding to hard yet.

But then it gets worse.

Maddie and Max have left to go guard and Mark has just been hitting me. Hard. I'm on my knees when he lifts me by my arm.

By now I'm half-conscious and I see the edge of the border. The light is brighter because of the lake of lava below the bridge. He takes me over to the cliff. He holds me by my neck, choking me.

"I just wanted to see better when I kill you." He says.

He lets go of me.

I know he meant to throw me over but we weren't close enough so I just hit the ground.

"Oops. Sorry." He says.

He's not sorry.

He kicks me one last time and walks away back to his side.

I drag myself to across the bridge back, leaving smears of blood in my path. When I get to the arch I cant take anymore so I black out.


	5. Chapter 6

When I wake up I'm in a tent.

It's warm.

I sit up.

I'm wearing new clothes and instantly feel embarrassed. Someone changed me while I was asleep.

Dylan comes over.

"There you are." He says. "I almost thought you were dead except for how warm you are." He says coming over.

He touches my forehead. I'm taken aback. How long have I been asleep?

"I think you have a fever. You lost a lot of blood. When I found you were bleeding, everywhere. You were out about three days." He finishes.

"Three days?!" I exclaim.

My voice sounds rough and my throat hurts.

"Yeah. But I think your okay." He says.

I want to stand to make it seem like I'm not as weak as I am. I get my canteen of water and take a sip. Instantly, I drink more until it's empty.

"Still thirsty?" Dylan asks me.

Before I can answer he hands me his canteen. I drink all the water.

"How many dead?" I ask.

"Thirty four total." He says.

"In four days?!" I exclaim.

"Yes."

"How many on our team?"

"Twenty three."

"Shit."

"I know. Red has never lost."

"I know. I watch at home."

"I played once." He says. He sits down as I do.

"I was on the Red team." He continues.

"Yet you're the advisor for the Blue team?" I ask.

"I hated the Red team. Everyone there. It's almost a tradition. They're all cruel and menacing. As if this game made them lose their humanity. They have no mercy." He says looking down.

"Why?"

"Because. Because they-" He stops. "I.. can't tell you. It's too much. You would probably hate me." He finishes.

"I will never hate you." I say.

And its true. I will never hate Dylan. I scoot closer to him.

I never wanted to admit this, I had seen Dylan before. Him and his parents and brother lived nearby our house in the village. He was only a year older than me. We never talked. But now I felt closer to him than ever. Like there was a connection that never was there before. I could see in his eyes something I had never seen before in a boy's eyes.

The way a boy looks at a girl when he likes her. Then it hits me.

I had always liked Dylan. I never admitted it to myself. But now was not the time for a crush. I had to win for my team. And survive for myself, and my family.

I move closer and turn his head toward mine. I press my lips against his.

At first his lips are hard, then they soften, kissing me back. His hands go down my sides to my hips. I run my hands down his chest. He takes his lips off him for a second, taking it in.

"I'm sorry." I say.

"Don't be." He says.

And his lips find mine again.


	6. Authors Note Please Read!

Since this is Minecraft, I have been thinking it would be interesting to make a skin of what Shea looks like in the Capture the Flag and even possibly before that too.

Also I want to say some thing have changed about how the story is written and what Minecraft is really like. I know there isnt backpacks and people dont live in villages (sometimes) and there no Mayors, etc. But, I wanted to make it a little like real life so yes a couple things have changed dont worry about that. I will continue to do that.

So yeah, thats pretty much it

-Ariadne


End file.
